As soon as he received the ball from Kyle Walker, you just knew Bernardo Silva would cause havoc, and that he did. Running at Luke Shaw with such vigour, elegance and confidence. The second the ball hit the back of De Gea’s net, Luke Shaw could only throw a strop, simply asking himself what more could he have done. You’re always taught as a full-back to always force the opponent on to their weaker foot and Luke Shaw didn’t take heed onto that instruction as he allowed Bernardo Silva to devastatingly run at him and bury a composed left-footed shot at De Gea’s near post.
It was clinical. Effortless. A true representation of the kind of quality that Bernardo Silva possesses. We’ve got to give Shaw the benefit of the doubt, he isn’t the only defender to be on the receiving end of an attacking masterclass by the Portuguese maestro. As City ran out 2-0 winners at Old Trafford in what was a key night on their quest to become the first back-to-back Premier League winners since their Manchester neighbours achieved the feat in 2009, Pep Guardiola will have been looking for his players to take another giant step towards the Premier League title. After a grafting first-half, City turned on the style after the break and Bernardo Silva was a pivotal component in City’s resurgence.
Not only was Bernardo Silva key against Manchester United, but the midfielder has been Pep Guardiola’s most trusted lieutenant throughout the course of the season. In the regular absences of arguably City’s best player Kevin De Bruyne, Silva has been the creative anchor that Manchester City have desperately needed in De Bruyne’s absence. He has become a player that his team-mates can heavily lean on and rely on to purr whenever City need some inspiration, some sprinkle of magic.
In what has been a frenetic couple of weeks for Guardiola’s side after the emotional roller-coaster ride of the Champions League quarter-final two legged ties against Tottenham which saw City’s chances of a famous quadruple halted by Pochettino’s men. After a 1-0 defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Pep Guardiola’s men approached the reverse leg at the Etihad knowing they had to turn on the style and boy did they do exactly that, however Tottenham also turned on the style in what was a chaotic, pulsating and edge-of-seat stuff. Manchester City may have one the tie 3-2 but it was Tottenham who went through on away goals. A few days later, both sides met again for the Premier League fixture in which Guardiola required another stylish response from his men, he may not have got that sort of response, but it presented the Spanish coach with another side to his team. One that is good enough to grind out results in the midst of adversity and boy have City been up against it in recent weeks.
It was the performance of one man that would have had Guardiola twiddling his thumbs without his most creative force Kevin De Bruyne and that man was Bernardo Silva. It was his peach of a cross that perfectly found Sergio Aguero to head on to the on-rushing Phil Foden to notch City’s winner. The sort of quality City needed and Bernardo Silva was the man to provide it. It was his all-round performance that certainly caught the eye, when City needed to press their opponents, he was the first player applying the pressure. For a player so small in stature, Silva has such a terrier-like attitude when duelling with his opponent. If you need any examples, his duelling with Paul Pogba on numerous occasions at Old Trafford was a sight to behold. There was an instance where Silva ran rings around Paul Pogba, leaving the Frenchman in his wake on the way to a City attack.
Simply sublime.
We’re all accustomed to Bernardo Silva’s magic and wizardry on the ball. The way he weaves away from his marker with such calm and ease, always available to receive a pass regardless of him being in a tight spot or not, he somehow always manages to jink his way through. We’ve all seen it. But there is more to Bernardo Silva than meets the eye, and its the reason why Guardiola was desperate to invest heavily on the former Monaco and Benfica midfielder.
When Manchester City met Monaco on that famous Champions League night at the Etihad stadium in 2017 in what was one of the most entertaining games in the past decade. City triumphed on the night 5-3, but it was Monaco who won the war as they edged the second-leg at the Stade Louis ll. Certainly, it was the performance of one Kylian Mbappe and Radamel Falcao that grabbed the headlines, but little did Manchester City’s coaches know about Bernardo Silva as they were scrambling for their team-sheets trying to identify just who the Portuguese was. Wearing the white and red of Monaco, it was Silva who effortlessly plucked the ball out of the sky, ghosting past two players and almost setting up another opportunity for a bright Monaco team. It was that kind of play that made Guardiola stand up and take notice of a player who holds such extraordinary abilities. It was reported after the final whistle that Pep Guardiola urged Sporting director Txiki Begiristain to snap up Bernardo Silva that summer.
Indeed they did. Silva arrived for a fee of around £43million at the end of May 2017. He was the first capture of Guardiola’s overhaul that summer and till this day has been the only player that has repaid each and every single penny of that deal. The Portuguese maestro has been arguably been Pep Guardiola’s best signing in his time as City boss. And that says a lot.
To many around the club and the City faithful. Bernardo Silva contributed massively to Manchester City’s title triumph last season and their current defence of their title. Keeping out both Leroy Sane, Riyad Mahrez and David Silva on a number of occasions either being deployed out wide on the right or on the left of Guardiola’s accustomed midfield three. Silva has performed both roles with such consummate ease, so much so that you are overawed and overwhelmed with excitement and awe when he’s on the ball.
When Silva is in this sort of form, Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez can have no complaints about a lack of first team opportunities. The Portuguese is the one keeping both players out of the side right now and it’s difficult for Guardiola to not include Silva in the first 11. As is the case in both games against Manchester United and Tottenham, we not only saw Silva’s creative prowess, but his tireless effort in defending as well as attacking. Nowadays in the modern game, you’d hardly see a winger flying into a tackle or hustling and harrying their opponents to retrieve possession, Bernardo Silva does all that with aplomb, week-in, week-out you’ll find him working tirelessly to win the ball either high up in the opponents half or deep into his own. It’s no wonder Guardiola can’t afford to keep him out of the side.
Silva’s influence was very underrated last season, considering he only started 15 games and one which left Guardiola impressed – and almost shocked – by his resilience and determination to put the hard work in order to to get his chance. There’s two things we know about a Guardiola side, you either score or you don’t lose the ball. Bernardo Silva rarely loses the ball and he is just as impressive without it. Only Tottenham Hotspur’s Christian Eriksen has covered more distance than Silva. His most eye-catching performances this season have come in the big games, none least than his outstanding efforts against Liverpool in January, where he ran the game as well as covering a barnstorming 13.71km.
He holds the top two sports for furthest distances covered this season, one against Liverpool and at Tottenham. Two key fixtures, two huge indications of how important Bernardo Silva is to Manchester City. It was his stylish finish that set City on their way at Old Trafford and it was his rugged performance against Burnley last time out that has provided City with the edge in this enthralling title race with Liverpool.
Guardiola just couldn’t hold back on his praise for the midfielder stating after the victory over United that ‘his whole season has been a masterclass’. Is Bernardo Silva Guardiola’s best City signing to date? He may be so, although none can dispute the brilliance that Ederson has brought in the City goal. However, in terms of maximum effort and creative edge, Bernardo Silva trumps the lot.
Silva is the embodiment of what Guardiola is trying to build at the Etihad. This season has proven that, especially without Kevin De Bruyne. There is a strong belief around the Etihad that Bernardo Silva can become one of the best players in the world and for Manchester City, well the latter, he is already one of the best but the former, if he can improve on his goal return then you really cannot back against him even becoming a Ballon d’or contender. His goal at Old Trafford was his 13th of the season, a huge improvement on last season’s efforts.
Yet there is so much more to Silva. He certainly has the talent, but its his personality and heart that really stands out amongst the City camp, so much so that he has been described as ‘like having the sun enter the building every morning’. A huge testament to a player who has become a huge example within the whole squad and to the young players. The Portuguese maestro just oozes class.
Silva was handed the man-of-the-match award against Tottenham the other week, instead he graciously and humbly handed the award over to match-winner Phil Foden. Another indication as to how much of an impact he is having on his City counterparts.
What more can you say about such an unerring and wonderfully gifted player? Bernardo Silva is simply a class act.
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